At the end of every school year many students are burnt out and ready to leave ASAP. As a result, it’s common for students to throw away perfectly usable things like refrigerators, furniture, bedding, etc. This can be seen through the giant dumpsters parked outside many of the residence halls. Many don’t know this, but once students leave, a lot of our fellow community members here at Cortland wind up looking through these dumpsters, and are astonished by items they find that appear practically brand new.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with people taking advantage of these dumpsters, but it could be far easier and less wasteful if there was a system in place that allowed and encouraged students to donate whatever they don’t need.
A group of students, myself included, attempted to take a step in the right direction by gathering left over school supplies that students were going to throw away and donating them to community members who could use them. This project came about as a result of an assignment in Dr. Caroline Kaltefleiter’s New Media Communications class.
The supplies were collected through donation boxes that you may have seen in Park Center, the Student Life Center, or Corey Union. Additional supplies were collected from students in their dorms. Paige White interviewed a few of the students about what they were donating and the importance of giving back to the community.
Through the “Mutual Aid of the Finger Lakes” Facebook page we were able to get in contact with some people here at Cortland who could use the supplies. One woman had 6 grandchildren moving into her home over the summer and was mentally preparing for this shift in her life. Another family had just become homeless, due to circumstances completely out of their control. Being able to make a little difference in a few people’s lives is always a rewarding experience and we recognized that the student population has to continue to do more to help out our community.
In addition to the school supply drive, we also looked into how SUNY Cortland deals with food waste and food insecurity. I interviewed Claude Willis, a closing supervisor at the Bistro about how they track food waste and where the extra food is donated to. Some of the food is composted, and some is donated to the Cortland Cupboard.
The Cortland Cupboard is a resource in Cortland that is here to help students struggling with food insecurity. Food insecurity is incredibly common among college students and is nothing to be ashamed of. The Cortland Cupboard is completely anonymous and all you have to do is swipe your student ID card to access it. It’s located at the Interfaith Center on 7 Calvert Street, right next to the campus. If you go there, you will see a sign pointing you to the entrance to the Cupboard. I interviewed John Suarez, who has helped out at the Cupboard for years, about how it works with CAS and why it’s such an important resource for students.
You can watch both of the interviews with Claude and John here: